Orders overtake income again for Serco
Outsourcing group Serco says that this year will be the third in a row in which orders outpace income.
Serco, which runs leisure centres in Shropshire and operates waste services in Sandwell, said it had seen a 20 per cent growth in underlying profit from trading in the first six months of 2019 to around £50 million.
Overall revenue grew by around six per cent to nearly £1.5 billion.
The £3bn of order intake in the half year, included the award of Serco's largest-ever contract for Uk asylum accommodation and support services, which is valued at £1.9bn.
2019 revenue is expected to be around the top end of the £2.9bn to 3bn range with underlying trading profit of about £105m.
Rupert Soames, Serco's chief executive, said: "Following a strong 2018, which marked an inflection point for Serco after several years of decline, we expect to report another good performance in the first half of 2019.
"The revenue growth seen in the second half of 2018 has continued, and profits and margins are both well up on the first half of last year."
Mr Soames said there had been strong revenue growth in North America and Asia Pacific.
"I am also delighted to see improvement in the trading performance of our UK division, which is showing the benefit of the Carillion health facilities management acquisition completed in 2018," he added.
The growth in revenue included a two per cent contribution from acquisitions, driven by the Carillion health facilities management contracts that transferred to Serco between June and August last year.
